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Erris
Population: 12,400 (100% Human) Government: Council Religion: All Imports: Meats Exports: Fruits, Artwork, Wood Life and Society Erris is seen as a paradise, and this perception influences most people who live on the island. Most residents of Erris are fairly laid-back and even-tempered. This is partially because of the large population of rich nobility from around the world that views Erris as a vacation or retirement spot, and partially because of the pristine and nearly perfect climate that the island boasts. Even Kisale, the largest city on the island, is not as hustle-bustle as other, similarly sized cities. Fashion and cuisine are unique on Erris, because of the weather and native flora and fauna. Most men and women on Erris wear loosely fitting clothing is the style, because of the warm temperatures. Both men and women wear diaphanous robes and sandal shoes. Women commonly have exotic and colorful flowers weaved into their hair. Cuisine uses a lot of native fruits and vegetables, and is composed primarily of shellfish, fish, and other creatures from the sea. Like the Volodni people, most who live in Erris’ suburban areas- which means anyplace other than Kisale, homes are typically huts made from native plants and trees. These huts are not primitive in any way, however, and most are built intertwined or nearby each other, to form walled complexes. Major Organizations Protectorate of Erris Major Geographical Features Erris is also known as the ‘Valley Isle’ because of the fact that its eastern and western shores are hills and mountainous regions, but it’s interior is highly fertile. Erris’ unique geography, as a result, has infused the island with very rich and diverse flora, seen nowhere else in the world. Many of the mountains on either side were once volcanoes, but have eroded into a nonfunctional status. Erris is characterized by mild and uniform temperature nearly year long, practically everywhere on the island, except at the higher elevations on the eastern and western seaboard mountains. During the coldest winter months, the temperature never drops below 65 degrees, and during the warmest summer months, the temperature never spikes above 80 degrees. It is this remarkable consistency throughout the year that has caused flora on Erris to evolve as it has. Erris experiences three different zones of precipitation. Very little rainfall falls onto the eastern and western mountains, since most precipitation either forms on them, and then spills into the valley below, or the mountains stand as a buffer against the rain. The valley between the eastern and western mountains experiences periodic tropical rainfall, categorized as large amounts of rainfall in short amounts of time nearly every single day. In the south, around the Grove of the Archdruid, is the third precipitation zone. Here, the rain falls as it does in the north, but slightly more frequently. The flora on Erris is extremely rich and diverse. Erris is described as a tropical paradise, and this label is not very far off the mark. Erris is the home to various exotic trees, such as the kiawe, hau, pandanus, kukui, pandanus and koa. Erris is home to even more bright and festive flowering plants, such as the hibiscus, hydrangea, kokutan, rose, rose of Sharon, gardenia, domenica bell, serissa, anthurium, aechmea, heart of flame, and bird of paradise. Numerous tropical fruits, such as pineapple, coconut, grapes, carambola, cherimoya, guava, figs, mangoes, mangosteen, papaya, peach palm, star apples, strawberry pears, oranges, rose apple, wax apples, and durian. Erris does not have many native terrestrial animals. Most that exist there today were brought to the island, and have adapted. Erris has native varieties of animals such as deer, hogs, goats and sheep, that are smaller in statue to those encountered on the mainland. Erris has numerous native aquatic animals, such as seals, whales, turtles, eels, and massive coral reefs. The catalogue of bird and fish native to Erris is extremely expansive. The coral reef around the island used to be larger, but great amounts of coral have been cleared on the island’s southeast side, for the purposes of safe trade. Important Sites Kisale Grove of the Archdruid Addle Cove Regional History For many years, the island of Erris was unsettled by terrestrial surface dwellers. Instead, most of the residents of the island were animals, such as seals, who used the beaches of Erris as a place to rest, or more permanent animals, such as deer, and other creatures that lived in the forests and highlands of the island. At some point, either through evolution or some other means, a sentient arose on Erris. The Volodni were simple folk, who lived in tribal bands and lived off of the land. Their diets consisted only of fruits and vegetables, being plant-people themselves. Because of their affinity with the land, the Volodni built no permanent cities, nor did they engage in unnatural agriculture. Rather, they ate what fruits and vegetables existed in an area, and when resources druid up, they moved on. Colonization on Erris was delayed for such a long time because of the massive coral reefs surrounding it. Sailors going to and from the island quickly learned of them, and as a result, avoided the area completely, unaware that the island of Erris existed, completely. This would allow the Volodni to exist in isolation hundreds of years. This would change in the UC 659, however. Captain Jordash Uskill set sail from Bustoke, the capital city of Parlera, early that year, seeking to find the mythal island of Elves that rumors said lay far to Parlera’s west. Weeks after leaving port, his ships landed on Erris, improbably navigating a safe route through the reefs that protected the island from the outside world for so long. Initially, the captain and his sailors believed they were on the Elven Enclave, but after encountering the Volodni, they realized that they were on an uncharted landmass altogether. The Parleran sailors lived among the Volodni for a few weeks before sailing back to Bustoke, with news of their discovery. For the nearly next thirty years, the Parleran government sat on the information, but in UC 658, the government authorized a small fleet to sail to the island of Erris, to colonize it. Unlike Captain Uskill’s first venture to the island, this fleet did not steer clear of the reefs that surrounded the island, and many vessels were damaged in various ways, with a few boats even sinking. The fleet returned to Bustoke, and plans promptly began to clear the reefs that protected the island’s southeast- the closest and most direct from Parlera. For nearly two years, on and off, Parleran men and woman cleared the reefs, until enough headway had been made. In UC 660, the Parlerans landed their fleet on Erris. The force sent by Parlera soon encountered the Volodni, and, having been prepared for war, began fighting with them. The Parlerans were well equipped, while the Volodni were not. Completely outclassed, the Volodni, in desperation, summoned a powerful creature from the Plane of Faerie, the Queen of Thorns, to aid them. Despite her presence, the Parlerans continued slaughtering the Volodni wholesale, to the point that they soon disappeared completely from Erris- some say the race went extinct, killed to the last individual, while other believe that some survived, and left the Material Plane for the Plane of Faerie, or some other world. Though the Volodni were soon vanquished, the Queen of Thorns was not so easily defeated, however. Loriáth, a powerful Druid who had stowed on one of the ships headed to Erris, guided by dreams and the notion that a great destiny laid ahead for her, confronted the Queen of Thorns on the site that would soon become the Grove of the Archdruid, and challenged the Archfey. Improbably, Loriáth defeated the Queen of Thorns, binding her to the site of the challenge, which became the Grove of the Archdruid. Loriáth, naturally, became the first Archdruid of Erris. With no more enemies, the conflict on Erris ended. The Protectorate of Erris was founded, and the island became a part of Parlera. The Parlerans settled a site in the mountainous region of the island’s northeast face, and that site became the city of Kisale, the administrative capital of the island. At first, the Parleran government was unsure what to make of the Druids in the southern reaches of the island, seeing them as possible agitators. As time passed, and it became clear that the Druids had no interest in politics, and that the verdant island was wholly under the control of Parlera, fewer military units remained on the island, and the civilian population grew, composed primarily of wealthy residents of Parlera. Since then, the island has been under the control of the Parleran government. The mainland government allows the Protectorate of Erris to govern efficiently and effectively, and does not micromanage. In UC 1,125, there was some talk on the island of declaring independence from Parlera, and joining the newly formed Island-Nation Confederation, but the Parleran government quickly prevented such sentiments from growing out of control with targeted assassinations and kidnappings of the main voices in the nascent independence movement.